IOR/L/PS/12/3542

Correspondence relating to the despatch of mobile dispensaries to various parts of southern Persia [Iran] during the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia in the Second World War. The correspondence follows a report written by the 12^th Indian Division Mobile Dispensary of a tour of parts of southern Persia (ff 68-71). Aside from descriptions of the conditions and tribes encountered, the report notes the potential public relations and propaganda value of sending British dispensaries into tribal regions of Persia. The subsequent correspondence discusses: the deployment of medical dispensaries to gather intelligence on the tribes of southern Persia; arrangements for further mobile dispensaries to be deployed in southern Persia; diseases and health conditions encountered in Persia; a report of a tour in Fars by Captain H Garrod of the 12^th Indian Division Mobile Dispensary, containing descriptions of the conditions found, medical requirements, and with additional notes on the tribes encountered (ff 47-56); a report entitled ‘Horseback tour of the Kuhgalu [Kohgīlūyeh] tribes, through the Bavi, Boir-Ahmadi [Bowyer Aḩmad], Bahmai [Bahma’ī], Taibi and Agha Jari territories in the Zogros ranges and foothills’, prepared by Captain A H Parvis of the Royal Army Medical Corps (ff 8-29). A sketch map of the route taken taken by Parvis accompanies the report (f 29).

The file’s principal correspondents are: the External Affairs Department of the Government of India; the British Ambassador at Tehran; the Foreign Office.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.